Deborah & Barak - Self-effacing Saviour

We're going to look at Judges again.

We're back into Judges for three weeks over the holiday period.

Judges is both incredibly depressing and also incredibly encouraging.

So it's depressing in the sense that we just see over and over again the rebellion of God's people.

And the thing about it is it's pathetically unoriginal.

But it inevitably brings God's people to their knees as a nation.

On the other hand it's encouraging because we observe the Lord's dealings with his people.

And as our sin is pathetically unoriginal, then God's dealings with his people is endlessly resourceful.

It's unexpected and displays repeatedly God's faithfulness and grace, which is the dominant thing we see through this book of Judges.

The story of Deborah and Barak is the fourth cycle in the story.

It happens two generations later if we take, and there's good reason to do so, if we take 40 years as a generation rather than literally 40 years.

Regardless of that, the story of Deborah and Barak is an intriguing drama.

And what we have in chapter 4 and 5 is the same story told in two very, very different ways.

So chapter 4 is a very measured matter-of-fact historical narrative, almost devoid of emotion.

And then chapter 5, it's hard to think of how it could be even more different than it is.

We've got extravagant picture language, extravagant descriptions.

We've got brutal pictures in chapter 5 that aren't there in chapter 4.

And chapter 5, as it were, puts the flesh on the factual skeleton of chapter 4.

And then among all that, then there are twists and turns and subplots.

And what those things do is they suck us into the world of illusion.

A world of illusion that had trapped God's people in Deborah's day.

And it makes us think about what's really real.

The characters, likewise.

We meet characters and they invite us to form conclusions.

But then no sooner do we start to form a conclusion than we get told that our conclusion probably is wrong.

And that conclusion is actually an illusion.

And again, making us as God's people today question what's really real for us.

And I'm going to use a line this morning repeatedly I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the conference.

When it comes to this sort of stuff, nothing is as it seems.

Nothing is as it seems for God's people in God's world.

So let's dive into the text and ask the question, who is the enemy in this story?

Who is the enemy or the villain?

And the obvious option would be King Jebin and his military commander Sisera.

Now what we know about Jebin is he was a Syrian king, reigned at Hazor, the largest city in the region.

And so most probably Jebin was the king of a military coalition of Canaanites.

Sisera was the commander, a very powerful coalition army.

And as an army with the latest, the very, very latest technology, iron chariots.

In other words, the story is telling us this is such a formidable military force that it's beyond conception that it could be defeated by anything the Israelites could throw up against it.

Huge tactical imbalance.

Huge military superiority to the Canaanites.

And added to that, there was deep hatred towards these northern tribes of Israel because just over 100 years earlier, when Joshua occupied the land, Hazor was the only city that Joshua and his people burned to the ground.

It was totally decimated as a sort of public humiliation of the Canaanites.

Eventually it was rebuilt and became really powerful and influential again.

There's a lot of scores to settle here and perhaps that explains why this particular period of time was so brutal under Sisera.

Perhaps they're the enemy because they're just ravaging through the country seeking revenge for something that happened 100 years ago.

And it was a severe revenge.

But things aren't as they seem.

Because the reality is that God's people are their own worst enemy.

The cruelty of Sisera caused them to beg God for deliverance.

But as you read the story there, something sort of just slips through.

It took them 20 years to beg for deliverance.

To get to the point of desperation and turning back to God.

That's a long time.

A long time to decide, well, okay, look, all the other options have gone.

Now we've got, in a sense, nothing left but to go back to God.

Once again, you see, the real enemy was their bad hearts.

Look at verse 1 again.

We've got this repeated cycle.

And the people of Israel again, again, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

If we look over to chapter 5, verse 8, and we get the detail of that statement.

Remember I said chapter 5 comes with all the emotion and the depth and the flesh.

Well, chapter 5, verse 8 puts it like this.

When new gods were chosen.

When new gods were chosen.

Then war was in the gates.

So, what's described in a sort of formal way in chapter 4, verse 1, we get the reality of it.

Chapter 5, verse 8.

This people of God had abandoned their covenant God.

The God who had brought them to himself, who had loved them, who had made them a special people, who had brought them into his special promised land.

They had just turned around and abandoned him.

Even while they were in the place that God meant for them, they abandoned him.

And decided to choose to pursue the good life through worshipping local Canaanite gods.

And that was a particularly vile expression of worship that involved child sacrifice and engaging with temple prostitutes, male and female.

And the idea was that if you had regular sex with them, then your ground would grow good crops and you would be secure and your family would flourish.

I mean, it wasn't just as if it was a little bit to the left of center.

It was a huge choice they made to turn their back on the Lord.

And the direct consequence, look at verse 2.

Again, we see something very, very strong in verse 2.

And the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jebon of Canaan.

The word there is a word for God signing a contract.

God actually signed a contract with this Canaanite king for the punishment of his people.

It's a very formal statement.

And you can't help thinking that.

Once that contract has been signed, then in a sense what happens in history is just coincidental.

Because we see the unseen hand of God at work in that word.

And that fits with Judges chapter 3.

Judges 3 · chapter mention

Flip back to chapter 3 verse 1.

And something that I think we often get overlooked in Judges.

Because it says in chapter 3 verse 1.

Now these are the nations that the Lord left.

Okay, the unseen hand of God.

The Lord left.

Why?

To test Israel by them.

And jump down to verse 4.

They were, at least among them the Canaanites.

Verse 4.

They were for the testing of Israel to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord,

which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

In the very next verse.

So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites.

Verse 6.

Their daughters they took to themselves for wives,

and their own daughters they gave to their sons and served their gods.

The Canaanites were told, again,

the unseen hand of God was that were there to test the faithfulness of his people.

And guess what?

They failed spectacularly.

Instead of being a distinctive reflection of Yahweh, their covenant God,

to the Canaanites out there,

they became a distinctive reflection of the Canaanites to Yahweh up there.

They had become enslaved within the Promised Land.

In God's own place, they had become enslaved.

If you look again at chapter 5, verse 6 and 7,

and we see something of what that enslavement looked like,

it's hard to know exactly what these verses mean,

but it seems to be that ordinary life, as it was known,

had ceased to be.

The whole system had collapsed

and become immobile.

Rather than the Canaanites producing the good life,

it had just led them in to death and destruction as a nation.

How sad is that?

And here's another illusion.

Their bad hearts

deceived them into a situation

where there was nothing more

than an illusion of intimacy with God.

Yes, we're God's people.

We're in God's special place, the Promised Land.

But it was just an illusion

of intimacy with God.

Trapped by their own hearts.

It's not Cicera

they most need deliverance from,

but their bad hearts.

Again, you see,

things are not as they seem.

Okay, let's meet the other characters

in the drama

and ask then, as Marty asked,

who's the saviour?

Who's the hero?

And we get three contenders.

The most obvious one, I think, is Deborah,

given that she holds the title to this.

And Deborah, we see in chapter 4,

well, she just pops up.

Now, you might expect

if she's the soon-to-be heroine,

then we might get some sort of special introduction.

But no, Deborah just appears.

But then again,

as soon as we start to think about Deborah,

then she just appears,

but then she's really, really unique

in her culture.

She's a prophetess and judge.

In other words,

Deborah was an important social

and religious leader

in the nation.

And I think it's interesting

that, again,

her cultural uniqueness,

her formidable character,

is highlighted by this contrast.

Her husband's mentioned,

but just stays in the background.

She's presented as a formidable,

godly woman,

called into a very, very unusual role

by the Lord.

And I think, by contrast, cleverly,

the writer's saying,

well, okay,

if we look at Deborah,

we're actually being told something

about the men

who are behind Deborah.

She exposes, in a sense,

the ineptitude,

the failure of the men

to fulfill their role

as godly leaders.

So Deborah is presented

as both a unique,

formidable servant of the Lord,

but it's also saying much more

to us than just about Deborah.

Anyway, verse 4 and 5,

a deputation comes to Deborah

to get her advice

on what to do

in response to their suffering.

Again, you see,

an action that would normally be,

brings shame to the men.

To be advised by a woman

in the culture of the day

was shameful in the extreme.

But they're so desperate,

they don't seem to even realize that.

They come to Deborah

seeking her advice.

And Deborah

doesn't take a backward step.

She tasks Barak

quite probably

an existing local

resistance unit,

militia commander

or something like that.

Anyway,

he's tasked with raising

a force of 10,000 fighters

to take on Sisera.

And they were to deploy

to the foothills

of Mount Tabor,

a 140-meter hill

at the north end

of the Esdralen Valley.

So they're to sit up there

and await the order

to attack.

Now,

militarily,

we just need to feel for Barak.

Because I think militarily,

this would have felt

like a suicide mission.

At best,

if you look at chapter 5,

verse 8,

again,

we get another little clue.

The end of verse 8,

was shield or spear

to be seen among

the 40,000 in Israel?

I think what that's telling us

is that because the Canaanites

had such a ruthless

subjection of the land

that Barak's 10,000 men,

at best,

were only very,

very lightly armed.

They couldn't hide

heavy weapons

from the Canaanites.

So at best,

they probably just had swords,

maybe a few daggers,

but most likely,

crude farm implements

that were sort of

commandeered for weapons.

And this up against

the most mechanized army

in the world at the time.

900 chariots,

a rapid deployment

mobile strike force.

They had no heavy weapons

to engage the chariots.

And most likely,

very little training

and probably

no combat experience.

Militarily, as I say,

this would have felt

like a suicide mission.

Yet Deborah

assures Barak

of complete victory.

Not just a possible victory

or a shade of victory,

but a complete victory.

Confident in God's promise.

And look at verse 9

of chapter 4

and see again

how things are never

as they seem.

Chapter 9, verse 4,

she said,

I will surely go with you.

I'll come back to this

in a minute.

Nevertheless,

the road on which

you are going

will not lead to your glory

for the Lord will

sell Sisera

into the hand of a woman.

The Lord's got his pen

out again

and he's about to

reverse the contract

that he had written

with Sisera and Jeban.

And now the Lord's

going to put a different

contract in place.

A contract that will

just as surely

be the undoing

of Sisera.

the unseen

hand of God.

Again,

nothing is

as it seems.

So it appears

that Deborah

is going to

be the hero

and get the glory.

But again,

things are not

as they first seemed.

Glory,

verse 9,

glory will go

to a woman.

It doesn't actually say

glory will come to me,

Deborah.

It just says glory

will go to a woman.

And so we're left

hanging at that point

in the story.

Then is Barak.

He's obviously

got to be a contender

as well for the

Saviour Award.

But then we run

into some trouble

because his response

to Deborah

initially

usually means

that he's labeled

as a faithless coward.

Poor old Barak

comes up for a bit

of a hiding

when people

will consider him.

And so the argument

is that

when Barak says,

off you go

and take on

the Canaanites,

and Barak says,

well actually

I'm not going to go

if you won't go with me.

That argument

is usually that,

well,

Barak knows

jolly well

that there's going

to be inevitable defeat.

And so he wants

Deborah there

as a fall guy.

He wants Deborah

there to sort of

blame in the event

that things go

pear-shaped.

And then

Deborah's response

to him

is seen to be

punishment

and public

humiliation.

Well,

because you're

faithless,

then I'm telling you

now that you won't

get any glory

for this.

That's not actually

what the Hebrew

says really.

There's a better

alternative.

And that alternative

also explains

why Barak

is actually

included

in the gallery

of faithful

servants

in Hebrews 11.

And here's

the alternative.

I think Barak's

response

is meant to

echo

the response

of Moses.

Remember when

Moses was set

aside by the

Lord to go

up and rescue

his people

from Egypt.

Moses also

expressed an

incredible sense

of inability

and caution

and fear.

And Moses

said to the

Lord,

unless you

go up with

me,

I won't go.

I won't do it.

And the Lord

said to Moses

actually,

yes,

I'll go with

you.

There's a

parallel here.

So I actually

think Barak's

statement here

is actually a

statement of

faith,

not a statement

of cowardice.

So Barak

is actually

expressing

supreme

confidence

in the

success

of his

task

in spite

of his

own

inability

if the

Lord's

representative,

which in

this case

is Deborah,

goes with

him as a

sign that

God is

going with

him.

And then

Deborah's

response in

the Hebrew

is just a

statement of

God's plan,

not censure.

Okay,

so I'm

going to go

up with

you,

but you

should know

this ahead

of time,

Barak,

you should

know that

this mission

you're setting

out on

will not

bring glory

to you.

If you read

in brackets

in between,

in fact,

you will

experience

shame

because a

woman will

get the

credit for

this particular

mission that

you're going

to lead.

Now at

that point,

I think we

see why

Barak's

included in

the gallery

of faith

in Hebrews

11,

because he

could have

then backtracked

and said,

well actually,

okay,

second thoughts

Deborah,

you just

stay here

because I

actually do

really want

the glory

for this,

so you

stay here,

I'll go

and do,

we'll reverse

back,

we'll re-have

this conversation

and you

stay here

and I'll

go and do

it,

yep,

and I'll

get the

credit.

No,

Barak

doesn't do

that,

he just

accepts

the situation.

And I

think thereby

displaying the

sort of

faith in

God's

promises and

the type of

leadership

that God

wanted to see

among his

people,

a leadership

that was

about concern

for God's

glory,

not his

own

reputation.

And then

moving on,

verse 12

through 16,

the story

just continues,

the complete

destruction of

the Canaanite

army and

in fact,

complete destruction

of Canaanite

domination for

the next

couple of

hundred years,

such was the

size of the

defeat.

But again,

tucked in

there is that

notion of

things aren't

as they seem.

Barak actually

led the

army on

the

battlefield,

actually saw

the victory,

but didn't

get the

normal benefits

of such a

great victory.

And so we

come to

Jael,

the third

contender for

heroine.

Now,

Jael

isn't actually

presented initially

as a major

character at all.

but she

becomes a key

player in the

story because

she's the one

who actually

kills Sisera and

actually fulfills

God's promise.

But again,

we see another

parallel through

the judges,

and that is

Jael is very

much likened to

Ehud.

She's a very

unsavory

character.

Her weapons

were seduction,

and that's

how we should

read how she

got Sisera into

her tent.

She was a

seductress,

smooth words,

lolling him into

a sense of

false security.

Deceit,

lies,

breaking every

rule in the

book in terms

of cultural

hospitality and

integrity.

And she

lures Sisera to

a horribly

violent death.

Every bit

is jarring

on us as

what do you

call them,

run the king

through.

Yep.

But again,

you see,

things are not

as they seem.

Jael gets the

credit for

killing Sisera,

but if you

look at

chapter 5,

verse 24

through 27,

she gets the

credit for

killing Sisera,

but she

doesn't get the

credit for

delivering God's

people.

Look at

chapter 5,

verse 24

to 27,

and it's

graphic and

it's gruesome.

Most blessed

of women be

jailed.

Now how can

somebody like

that be called

most blessed

of women?

The wife of

Heber,

the Kenite,

of tent-dwelling

women,

most blessed.

He asked

water and she

gave him milk.

Deception.

She brought

him curds

and a

nobles'

bowl.

Seduction.

She sent

her hand

to the

tent peg

and her

right hand

to the

workman's

mallet.

This is

just gruesome.

She struck

Sisera.

She crushed

his head.

This has

been spun

out for us.

We're meant

to feel

every gory

detail.

It's like

the old-fashioned

slow-mo.

She shattered

and pierced

his temple.

Between her

feet he sank.

He fell.

He lay

still.

Between her

feet he sank.

He fell.

He says it

for a third

time.

Where he sank,

there he fell.

Dead.

Dead.

Pretty blood

Thursday account,

isn't it?

jail.

Jail,

however,

is only

significant

in that,

like Ehud,

she delivers

the decisive

blow by

which God

completes the

deliverance

of his

people.

And it

has to be

like that

because the

real

deliverer

is God.

God,

the real

deliverer is

God.

It's totally

clear when we

now move into

Deborah's song,

it's totally

clear that

Deborah doesn't

think for a

moment that

she's front and

center in this

great deliverance.

Deborah is

singing God's

praises because

she knows that

God was the

great deliverer.

Chapter 5,

verse 2,

she recognizes

there that

God's people

play their

part,

that the

leaders took

the lead in

Israel,

the people

offered

themselves

willingly.

Bless the

Lord.

So the

Lord used

his sinful

people in

this great

outcome.

The people

were sort

of rallying

to restore

the honor

of God

among his

own people.

But even

then there's

illusion and

things are

not as

we seem

because if

you look at

chapter 5,

verse 16,

through to 18,

and verse 23,

not all

God's people

were prepared

to fight

for God's

honor.

So not all

of God's

people were

so desperate

to rise up

against the

Canaanites

and restore

God's honor.

Some of them

actually stayed

at home.

Some of them

chose safety

and comfort

over God's

honor.

So again,

any illusion,

any thought

that there's

unity across

God's people

is just that,

an illusion.

Some chose

their own

comfort over

God's honor.

But look at

verse 4 and

5 of

chapter 5.

It was the

Lord who

orchestrated

the Canaanite

defeat using

an unseasonal

thunderstorm,

it would appear.

A thunderstorm

which turned

the normally

hard,

dry,

flat plains,

highly suitable

for a highly

mobile strike

force of

chariots,

turning that

into a

sort of

buggy

quagmire.

Imagine 900

iron chariots

and probably

at least two

if not four

horses per

chariot.

I mean,

it would

just have

turned into

a mud pie.

But importantly

you see,

the unseen

hand of

God in

this

unseasonal

thunderstorm

completely

reverses the

strategic

imbalance.

The

assets of

a 900

strong

rapid

deployment

force now

becomes a

liability.

And the

liability of

only 10,000

lightly armed

troops hiding

behind the

trees on

the hillside

now becomes

strategic

advantage.

And so

there's total

victory.

And Deborah

will settle

for nothing

less than

celebrating the

covenant

faithfulness of

God.

His unseen

hand was

sovereignly seen

and felt in

every movement

of their

experience,

including their

suffering of

20 years.

But friends,

there's an

even bigger

picture to

end being

enjoyed here

in chapter

5,

verse 5.

And that's

the beauty

of poetry.

We soar to

lofty heights

and make

connections that

you can't

just make in

a factual

historical

narrative.

Chapter

5,

verse 5,

4 and 5.

Lord,

when you

went out

from

Seir,

when you

marched

from the

region of

Edom,

the earth

trembled,

the heavens

dropped,

yes,

the clouds

dropped water,

the mountains

quacked before

the Lord,

even Sinai

before the

Lord,

the God

of Israel.

Sinai

pops up

in there.

And I

think what

we're being

told here is

that we're

to read the

story of

Deborah and

deliverance from

the Canaanites

like another

Exodus event.

Remember,

through Moses,

God delivered

his people

from bondage

to sin,

from slavery

in Egypt,

and brought

them back to

himself for

new holiness

and obedience.

And do you

remember how

he did it?

He brought

them through

the Red

Sea.

And it was

the water

that destroyed

the Egyptian

army in

totality.

The Lord

swept them

away as

well.

As a

demonstration

of his

sovereignty

and his

power and

his faithfulness

to his

people.

And you

remember,

after that

event,

Miriam got

alongside

Moses and

she wrote

a beautiful

song,

Exodus

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15,

to celebrate

God's

sovereignty and

God's

faithfulness to

him.

This is a

very, very

close parallel.

And we're

meant to

see it like

that.

A parallel

song to

the faithfulness

of God.

Because once

again, you

see, their

faithful God

has pursued

his people

even into

the darkness

of their

sin and

brought them

back to

himself.

Determined

that they

would enjoy

the good

life that

only he

can deliver

to them,

that he

intends to

deliver to

them, in

spite of

their

determination

to turn

away from

it.

What a

picture of

God's

faithfulness.

What a

picture of

God's

faithfulness.

And it

dwarfs us

in comparison

to the

majesty and

the splendor

of God.

And before

him, here

we are,

sinful people,

even as we're

in God's

place,

constantly

wanting to

turn away

and find

something better,

even as we're

enjoying the

best that

the Lord has

to offer us.

What a

picture.

Depressing

and encouraging.

Nothing will

do for

Deborah and

Barak but

to sing to

the Lord.

Verse 3,

Hear, O

kings, give

ear, O

princess, to

the Lord I

will sing.

I will make

melody to the

Lord, the

God of

Israel.

And you

see, Deborah

in this

song is

putting

things back

how they

should be.

People all

around, the

nations all

around should

look at

God's

people and

when they

see God's

people, then

they should

see God.

That's not

what it's been

like for 20

years, but it

is now once

again with

Deborah's

song.

And Deborah

and Barak

land this

lesson with

disturbing

force in

the last

stanza of

the song.

It's a

very, very

left field

picture.

Chapter 5,

verse 27 to

31.

I pondered

this and

pondered this

for a long

time over

the last

couple of

weeks, and

I think

maybe I've

got it

right.

You'll

have to

be the

decider of

it.

I've got

nobody else

to blame.

Maybe

Bo.

Yeah,

Bo.

Bo will

do.

Yep.

Okay, so

what happens

in verse

27 is

that we

get this

gory,

repeated,

slow-mo

description

of

Sisera

dying.

And we're

meant to

just feel

the impact

of that.

And then

verse 28,

we transition

magically, as

only you can

do in

poetry, to

where?

To the

lounge room

where Sisera's

mother is

waiting for

him to

return from

campaign.

So follow

through with

me.

out of

the window

she peered.

Just a

sudden

transition.

Who's this

peering?

The mother

of Sisera

wailed

through the

lattice.

Why is

his chariot

so long

and coming?

Why tarry

the hoofbeats

of his

chariots?

Her

wisest

princesses

answer,

indeed she

answers herself,

have they

not found

and divided

the spoil?

A womb

or two

for every

man,

spoiled

of dyed

materials

for Sisera.

Spoiled

of dyed

materials

embroidered,

two pieces

of dyed

work

embroidered

for the

neck

as

spoil.

So what's

happening

here?

We're being

transported from

the grisly

reality of

Sisera's

death to

the palace

where his

mother and

family are

waiting for

his return.

She's wondering,

why is he

late?

Dinner's going

to get

cold.

And we're

again given

some insight

into illusion

and how

things are

not as

they seem.

She also

is living

under an

illusion.

Her

assumption

is that

this

powerful,

ruthless,

cruel son

of hers,

who has

always been

victorious and

who charged

out at the

head of the

most mechanized

army the

world had

seen at that

time,

that he'll

just come

home as

victor.

And so she

thinks,

well, if he's

not home

already,

then, well,

okay, let's

be honest,

boys will be

boys.

And so they

got a woman

to who that

is.

I take it

what they're

saying is that

Sisera and

his men are

busy raping

their newly

captive woman.

The result

of victory.

It doesn't

occur to her

that her

successful

son might

be dead.

She also

is living

under illusion.

Things are

not as they

seem.

And verse

31 then

sums up

the whole

song.

So may

all your

enemies perish,

O Lord,

but your

friends be

like the

sun as

he rises

in his

might.

Amen.

Amen.

The enemies

of God,

those who

reject him

and believe

they can find

a good life

apart from

serving and

worshipping him

will ultimately

perish.

The unseen

hand of God

will make

that happen.

Even though

they may

appear

invincible

now.

It will be

the friends

of God,

verse 31,

who will

ultimately be

seen to have

both light

and life

and a

future.

So my

friends,

I think

the main

message of

this is

don't live

under

an illusion.

Choose

to live

in God's

reality

of true

life

and true

satisfaction.

Don't be

easily

conned

by that

which offered

you all

around you

in this

world.

it might

give you

a false

security.

It might

give you

an illusion

of

intimacy

with God

because after

all my

life's going

well and

because my

life's going

well then

God must

be favorably

disposed

towards me.

Things are

not as they

seem.

Don't live

in illusion.

Live in

reality.

God's

the real

deliverer and

his

self-effacing

judges and

saviors whisper

beautifully of

Jesus.

It's

interesting in

chapter 5

verse 7

Deborah is

called the

mother of

Israel.

It's a

lovely term.

Again it

took me a

while I

think to

unpack this

on my

mind.

So Deborah

is the

mother of

Israel.

Why?

Because

she's the

one who

demonstrated a

mother's

grief for

the waywardness

of her

children, her

people, her

nation.

She's the

one who's

demonstrated a

mother's care,

a mother's

concern, a

mother's

concern to

protect, a

mother's

commitment to

her children in

spite of their

failings and

their waywardness.

And does

anything whisper

more of Jesus

than something

like that?

Remember in

Matthew chapter

Matthew 23:37

23 verse 37

through to

39 Jesus

comes and

he looks down

in Jerusalem

and he says

ah Jerusalem

Jerusalem,

would that I

could sweep

you up and

bring you into

safety under

my wings.

Jesus was

expressing a

mother's concern

for his

people.

Such fierce

jealousy for

them in their

sin that he

would literally

die to

protect them

and deliver

them.

a truer

and better

Deborah.

Barak is

prepared to

forgo his

reputation,

forgo any

glory that

might be

rightly claimed

by him,

even to the

point of being

shamed before

his people.

Why?

Because his

one focus was

God's glory

and the

deliverance of

God's people.

God's

people.

All he

wanted in

life was

not reputation

but to be

part of God's

salvation program

for his

people.

That would be

glory enough

for Barak.

And again,

what a beautiful

whisper of Jesus.

Philippians chapter

Philippians 2:5–11

2 verses 5 to

11 talks about

how Jesus gave

up his glory,

gave up his

reputation,

accepted shame,

even to the

point of death.

Why?

Simply that he

might deliver

his people and

bring glory to

his father.

And you're

probably wondering

how is he going

to twist the

GL thing?

How is he going

to spin that

one?

Well, in

chapter 5 verse

24, GL is

described as the

most blessed of

women.

I think it

works like this.

She accepted

that extreme

violence,

extreme violence,

was required to

deliver God's

people from

their tormentor.

And so, we

have a picture of

GL prepared to

ruthlessly kill

off God's

enemy by nailing

him to the

ground.

And that made

me think of

Colossians chapter

Colossians 2:13–15

2 verses 13

to 15 where

we're told that

Jesus acted with

a similar

ruthlessness to

destroy what

held us in

bondage and

tormented us.

That is in

Colossians is

told our record

of debt and

the ongoing

demands of the

law saying

guilty, guilty,

guilty, guilty.

And like

jail, Jesus

nailed our

deepest problem.

But again, you

see, things are

not as they

seem.

He did nail

our problem.

He did

deliver us.

Not by

inflicting

violence, but

by being the

victim of

extreme

violence.

The extreme

violence, the

violent death

needed to kill

off our

greatest enemy

by nailing the

law and its

demands to the

cross.

Again, a

beautiful picture,

a beautiful

whisper of the

Lord Jesus.

So friends,

don't mistake,

if you're not a

Christian here this

morning, don't

mistake the

self-effacing

Jesus for a

weak and

insignificant

Jesus.

Nothing is as

it seems.

Let's pray.

Lord, help us to

hear your word.

Help us to

appreciate the

complexity of

the way in which

it's been written

and the

beautiful pictures

it brings before

us.

Pictures, Lord,

that nail us in

our pathetic,

unoriginal

rebellion against

you.

and yet,

Lord, pictures

that show your

unexpected and

creative ways in

which you deliver

us, your

people.

Thank you, Lord,

that the most

unexpected, the

most creative way

is captured in

the person and

work of the

Lord Jesus.

Who would have

thought, Lord,

that you would

nail our deepest

problem at the

cost of the life

of your own

son.

We thank you,

Lord, that in

that you've

taken us from

illusion into

reality.

And we pray,

Lord, that we

might live

confidently every

single day

knowing that your

unseen hand

guides our every

move and our

every thought.

And I pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.